Save a Tree: Send a Video Thank You Note

I like this idea for startup job seekers. The candidate who takes the time to put together a video resume can be infinitely more expressive than the candidate who sends an archaic, sterile, devoid-of-any-signs-of-life paper resume. (hint: startups are looking to hire creative, passionate, self-starters. These traits are much easier to convey with a short heart-felt video than with a paper resume.)

Here’s a good example. My good friend Elissa Pociask (check out her Kickstarter page) used to be the executive assistant to Facebook/Spotify/Napster dude Sean Parker. This is not an easy job to get. How’d she get it? Simple. She sent him a video resume. He loved it. End of story.

So I think video resumes can be a good idea. But why leave it at just resumes? Why not video everything? How about video thank you notes? I’ve written in the past on why it’s a good idea to send paper thank you notes rather than just emails. I am going to take this idea a step further and say, if you really want to impress someone, screw the paper stuff. Save some trees, and send them a video thank you note instead.

I received this video a few weeks ago from college students in San Jose where I gave a presentation on entrepreneurship. The video makes me smile every time I watch it, and after I received it there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that if the organization asked me to speak again, I’d be there in a heartbeat.

Moral of the story: video thank you notes are awesome.

Every time you send one, you will create a little bit of unexpected joy in the recipient’s life. Try creating one yourself. It doesn’t need to be fancy. You can record the video on your iPhone and email it out in under 1 minute.

First person to create one and respond in the comments with your results gets a Chipotle gift card from yours truly. Ready, set, record!

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5 thoughts on “Save a Tree: Send a Video Thank You Note”

We were doing prototype/beta trials recently for our startup and found that personal videos were also very effective and meaningful. We used them a few ways including

– for the prototype to provide guidance in a consistent manner but more so to convey the tone & expectation for the process to make it less scary to the people involved

– for beta, we approached a few friends/colleagues who had more progressed startups and asked if they could spare 10 mins of their teams’ time to look at our beta and complete a survey etc. We made personalised videos that spoke to the culture of these companies even mentioning some individuals etc

Loved the post, Ethan. I’m a big believer in the video for resumes, as it has worked out well when I’ve used it in the past. I recommend a site called HelloThere (www.sayhellothere.com). Built for video, but also allows you to enter contact information, links, documents, and more, all in the same site.